While Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has been pummeled for yelling at a teammate on the field last week, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has gone virtually unscathed.
That’s because Rodgers isn’t a total douche like Cutler, but that’s beside the point. Rodgers yelled at receiver James Jones during last Thursday’s game after Jones took a route deeper than he should have. Rodgers threw to where Jones was supposed to be and the ball was intercepted.
In the time since (and Jesus Christ can the Packers play again already?) Jones said he deserved to be yelled at. Rodgers also apologized to Jones. He spoke about the incident on Wednesday.
“That’s something I apologized for because I never want to show up a guy on the field like that,” Rodgers said on his weekly show. “And I also had to thank James for the way he addressed it as well. You always appreciate support from your guys. James has been a great receiver for us for a long time, and we’ve played a number of years together, spent time throwing in the offseasons, have a lot of faith and trust in him. He’s a guy who’s going to have to play a lot of snaps for us. We’re counting on him and expecting him to make big plays for us. We enjoy his attitude, his energy in the locker room. That was something that as usual we handled behind closed doors after the incident. We’re ready to move on.”
While we don’t know if Jones is a “great” receiver — great receivers are usually pretty solid route runners — we do know this. Rodgers’ comment on the incident is the exact reason people like him and hate Cutler.
Attitude.
Cutler’s reaction to criticism is to criticize the media. His reaction to his yelling incident ranged from “maybe I shouldn’t have pushed him,” to “this isn’t a hobby.” In other words, he is totally not at fault. Just ask him.
Meanwhile, Rodgers admits he fucked up, handles it and moves on. Kind of reminds you of… what’s that type of person called?
Oh. Right. A man.
That’s how a man handles his business.